From the January 19, 1999 issue of the SUN
By Glenn May
SUN Staff Writer
An attempt to clean up an old dry-cleaning fluid spill near North Railroad Avenue has qualified for federal "superfund" money.
Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state Environment Department (ED) officials announced Friday that money from the superfund, a pot of money created by the U.S. Congress for environmental restoration, will be available to clean the site.
State scientists conducted tests last summer to determine how far the plume of contamination had spread.
While ED hydrogeologist Robin Brown said data is still being reviewed, it appears the plume is about three-quarters of a mile long but narrow.
"It's a lot longer than it is wide," she said.
Brown stressed that no drinking water wells now being used, either public or private, are contaminated and said city water is "especially safe."
Brown said the announcement that the site's clean-up will be partially funded through the superfund does not mean a large-scale effort is about to begin.
Studies on the site continue and it is uncertain when a clean-up will start and what it will involve.
"We're still in the investigative part of it right now," Brown said. "Hopefully by next summer we'll have a report together with recommendations and then we'll have a public meeting." She said local citizens will have a say in how to proceed with cleaning up the site.
Some of the chemicals in the spill are suspected to be cancer-causing agents, but Brown said that the public is not in immediate danger from having the fluids in the ground.
"It doesn't appear to be a great health threat," she said.
The spill originated from a previous owner of the Norge Town Laundry. State officials say the current management is following all regulations guiding use and disposal of cleaning agents.
Brown said she is still trying to determine if the pollution is reaching the Rio Grande. Testing water in the river would be inconclusive, she said, because any contamination would soon be diluted to below measurable amounts.
